


Let's Meat Again

by shangrilove



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Restaurant, Bad Flirting, Flirting, Fluff, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Humor, Los Angeles, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 07:42:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13922535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shangrilove/pseuds/shangrilove
Summary: Jack just wants to showcase his family's prized wagyu steaks, it's not cheating if he flirts a bit with the hot food critic from the L.A. Times right?





	Let's Meat Again

Raise the Steaks opens with little fanfare on a Wednesday on a quiet stretch of Skid Row. There is no hype, no Instagram account tracking every step of the renovation and did not have a celebrity chef live-tweeting the lead-up. In fact, “foodies” of Los Angeles have never heard of one Jack Morrison. When you search for the restaurant, there is a minimalist website with only the restaurant hours and a photo gallery of content-looking cows. 

It’s easy for those walking by to slide from the neon-lit karaoke bar right to the bustling organic baby supply depot, completely missing the nondescript storefront that only has a simple wood charred sign announcing that a new restaurant now operates in the space. A chalkboard sign propped on the sidewalk with a cartoon cow drinking champagne makes some people chuckle.

At first, it mostly caters to the office crowd who want a new business spot. It starts picking up the pace once a couple high roller celebrities (not that Jack knows who they are) come around and the posts spread via social media. Raise the Steaks gets its first Yelp review, then twenty all at once. The food bloggers all seem to visit in the same week and from the looks of it, they all prefer the ribeye and agree the presentation of the steak tartare is great. The reviews are solid, everyone marvels at how succulent the beef is and rave about the simplicity of the accompanying charred heritage corn. Unfortunately, everyone is also unanimous that service is a hot chaotic mess and the “hospitality” is quite lacking.

Ana brings it up at their next business meeting, “you need a front of house manager”

“No, I don’t.” Jack says automatically. “Anyways, I can’t put another employee on the payroll right now.”

“I’ve seen your numbers, if you run a tighter front of the house, you can flip your tables faster and get more people in and out.” Ana points out. 

“Where the hell am I supposed to find someone to do that? The line cooks are abysmal and taking so long to train. I lose at least one server a week. I already spend more time on staff than actually cooking.” Jack grumbles.

“What did you think an executive chef did?” Ana laughs.

“I just wanted to grill. I was fine with a food truck. You just had to talk me into a full-service restaurant tablecloth and six hundred-dollar bottles of champagne.”

“Jack you are one of the few people in this country who has a monopoly on premium wagyu beef, you cannot serve that kind of food out of a truck and charge eighty bucks for it.”

“They are pretty bourgeois cows aren’t they?” Jack grins.

“They are some of the best cows one can get. I know quality when I see it.” She pats him on the cheek like a child, Jack is just such an adorable baby restauranter but she already has a teenage daughter and doesn’t need another kid. “As your primary investor, I’m confident you’re going to make me lots of money. Hire a front of house, train your staff and you’ll be ready when the big guns come around.”

* * *

Of course, he listens to Ana, like there was ever any question about that. This restaurant is Jack’s precious opportunity to get out Indiana and make something out of himself and while still supporting the family business. It’ll take a lot more than sheer stubbornness to keep him from success. Plus Ana is one of those people who he suspects is always right. So Jack writes up a job posting and puts it up on some local job boards and craigslist, of course all the replies come from the latter. Someone also asked if “front of house” was a kinky roleplay scenario and would he be interested.

He skims through a stack of resumes (if some of them can even be called that) and schedules a dozen people to come in during the break between lunch and dinner service.

Half the applicants don’t show up.

One girl is high as hell and tries to grope his chest. Jack firmly escorts her out.

A mid-age man who claimed to have run his own bakery comes in and starts criticizing everything about Raise the Steaks. His nasal voice complains that the bar counter is too rustic, the chairs are not at the right height, why do you have sunflowers on the table and that maybe you should add some charcoal items to the menu. Jack gives a thin smile to tell him that he’ll be in further contact and promptly uses that application as tinder to start the grill.

After a week of no-shows, no experience or absolutely no fucking way, Jack is frustrated as hell. His wait staff picks up on his mood which ends up with even more disorderly service and chaos in the kitchen. No matter how scrumptious his food is, nobody’s going to want to come back for shitty service and food sent out an hour after they’ve ordered.

He’s mopping the floor after another night of miscommunication and hectic service when someone comes in. “We’re closed.” Jack doesn’t glance up from the clump of congealed sauce he’s trying to eradicate.

“Oh wow, love what you did with the space!” A cheerful young woman in a blue and pink jumpsuit is suddenly in his face.

Disoriented from the sudden invasion of personal space, Jack just barely manages not to tip over the bucket of dirty water. “Who are you?” _Why haven’t you left yet_ is heavily implied.

“Oh sorry, I’m Hana” She even gives a cutsey wave. “This used to be an internet lounge and I was hoping to kick some chauvinistic butt tonight but…” She shrugs but makes no move to leave.  

“Well sorry to disappoint you, but we’re a steak restaurant now. _And_ we’re closed.” He looks pointedly at the door and goes back to scrubbing the floorboards. There are no footsteps heading out, and he refuses to look back at this strange girl who is preventing him from finishing at a reasonable time.

 “Want some help?”

“What?!” He looks up.

“Well my night suddenly opened up.” Hana is smirking. “Plus you look like you’re really struggling there old man.”

“Old man! I just turned 31!”

“Oh, I guess you’re not actually old enough to be my dad.” She pouts.

“I definitely can be a teenage dad. You’re what thirteen?”

“Hey! Do most thirteen-year-olds have university degrees? I usually don’t disclose my age but I’ll have you know I am at least old enough to drink.”

Jack doesn’t know how it happens, one moment they’re complete strangers sniping at each other, next she’s dusting between the bottles at the bar and then he’s mixing drinks for her to try and give feedback on. It’s the most wholesome interaction he’s had since moving to this city and the stress of operating a new business seems to melt away. By the end of the night, he finally has hired a front of house manager. At least Ana will be pleased.

* * *

Okay, he’ll never admit it, but Hana is exactly who he needed all along. Not only is her overly cheerful demeanor a great antithesis to Jack, but she never loses it with difficult customers, even when they’re _wrong_. Yes, customers can be wrong, and they usually are. What kind of idiot orders a steak rare and then cries when it bleeds pink jus.

The worst are the fools who decide to irredeemably brutalize a cut of wagyu ribeye by asking for it well done. Jack swears he seasons those slabs of meat from the tears he sheds. Sometimes Hana is able to nudge customers into ordering them cooked to the proper doneness, which means nothing more than a medium but there are always those who are so dumb it’s futile. But whatever happens, Hana always consoles him as she punches those tickets in, which is all Jack can settle for.

A month later he’s lost three line cooks to the soulless corporate Outback Steakhouse franchise that opens up a couple blocks later. Hana once again pulls through and introduces him to Lúcio.

The guy looks absolutely ridiculous with his dreadlocks covered by food safety regulation hairnets but boy did he grill a mean steak when he demonstrated his cooking abilities.

“I’m Brazilian. Steak and drinking caipirinha was my entire diet.” He explains.

“We should get some cachaça for the bar.” Jack muses.

“First of all, we gotta get some better beats for this place.”

**Author's Note:**

> It's my first time writing in years, but Overwatch is such a great love story I couldn't help it! I absolutely love the interactions between Jack and Gabe, don't worry you'll see the latter soon! Please let me know what you think, give me all your Reaper76 feels!


End file.
